


soft contemplation on snowy nights

by aroseintheimpala



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Isle of Man, Reality, Sleepy Cuddles, dan and kath, kath lester
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 23:29:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13646673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aroseintheimpala/pseuds/aroseintheimpala
Summary: Dan and Kath have a sweet conversation on the Isle of Man followed by some soft and sleepy phan cuddles. All fluff here. Like disgustingly fluffy.





	soft contemplation on snowy nights

It was a cold, snowy night on the Isle of Man. England didn’t usually get a lot of snow, but when it happened, it was somewhat of a magical experience. Dan was sat by the fireplace on a little bench by the window, clad in a pair of dark grey joggers and his newly found favourite black fuzzy jumper. Phil joked that it made him look like a giant emo teddy bear. Dan just loved how comfortable and soft it was, like he was walking around wrapped in a warm blanket instead of normal people clothes.

The scene outside the lounge window was something out of a fairytale. Large, soft snowflakes drifted slowly from the sky and through the filtered orange light of the lamp post outside. It had been snowing heavily for a few hours, so the ground was already blanketed in it. Dan knew if he stepped outside, the world would have that eerie quiet feeling like he’d wandered inside a dream. It was beautiful.

He startled as a hand came to rest on his shoulder, jumping just a bit. He heard a soft laugh from behind him and turned to find Mrs. Lester, or Kath, as he’d been told to call her. 

“Sorry, dear,” she laughed, “I didn’t mean to scare you, but I thought you might like some hot chocolate?”

Dan looked down at the mug in her hand. It was the black one with little glittery specks in it that was secretly his favourite. He never said as much, but Kath somehow knew. He felt a smile stretch across his face at the gesture.

“Thanks, Kath,” he said, clumsily gripping the mug in his too large hands as he took it from her.

She sat down on the bench beside him, sipping from her own mug. Dan smirked as he realised it was one of his and Phil’s cat whisker mugs they had given her a few years back. It made him feel warm inside that she’d kept it this long. His own mother never really understood their eccentric online branding. The pair sat in silence, watching the snow fall. Being with Kath was a lot like being with Phil in many ways. She had a comforting presence and was kind to a fault. Dan never felt awkward around her, even as the gangly terrified teenager he was when they’d first met. She made people feel at ease. After a few moments of comfortable silence, she spoke.

“Where’s Phil gotten to anyway? I don’t usually get you all to myself for too long with the way you two are attached at the hip,” she said.

Dan grinned. It was true that they never really spent much time apart, even when with their families. A younger Dan would have felt insecure about the comment probably, questioned whether she thought Dan was around too much. He knew better now though. He’d stopped questioning the sincerity of her insistence that Dan was a welcome part of the family. How could he question it when she was one of the most genuine people he knew?

“He’s still napping upstairs,” Dan explained.

“Ah, lazy boy,” Kath tutted.

Dan laughed, “Yeah, he was pretty worn out from our hike earlier. I figured I should let him rest.”

“Mhm,” Kath nodded.

She stared out the window for moment more before looking back to Dan.

“You boys did have an early morning,” she said, “are you not tired too?”

Dan looked down at his mug of hot chocolate, biting his lip a little bit. 

“Guess I just couldn’t sleep,” he said.

He’d laid under the blankets in the guest room curled around Phil for a half hour or so, but he just couldn’t relax enough to fall asleep. The truth was that he’d never really been good at taking naps. He was the type of person whose mind started swirling the second he found himself with no distractions to keep his brain from the worrisome thoughts. These days, it wasn’t really the negative spiral he used to fall into. He was doing much better lately with managing his depression. It was more the anxiety.

The many responsibilities he and Phil had taken on with planning a tour, brainstorming new merchandise for said tour, making gaming videos, being an ambassador for Young Minds, and still trying to somehow maintain their main channels was weighing heavily on him any time he slowed down to process it. It felt like too much. He could handle it if he focused on one task at a time, which is what his therapist advised him to do. 

‘Break it into smaller, more achievable tasks,’ she’d said.

That was all fine until he found himself in a dark room with nothing to do but think. 

He could feel Kath watching him, no doubt noticing the way his forehead creased and his grip tightened on the warm mug. She was a mother, and mothers notice these things. She reached over and pushed back the unruly curls that had fallen over his eyes.

As if she could read his mind, and she probably actually could, she said, “Nigel and I are so proud of you boys and everything you do, but you need to remember to take care of yourself too, Dan.”

Dan smiled up at her, trying to ignore the warm tears he felt behind his eyes at her sincerity. He was always such a sap when people were nice to him. 

“I know,” he said, “and Phil tells me that nearly every day,” he laughed.

“He better be,” Kath said sternly, “I raised him better than to let one of my boys work himself to death.”

Dan couldn’t argue with her there. Phil was a godsend, and he always knew when Dan needed to put down the laptop and climb into a warm bubble bath. He never let Dan get too lost in his own mind. Dan felt like his heart could burst at just the thought of how loving and careful Phil was with him. He could spend his whole life trying to figure out how he deserved it. 

“Don’t worry,” he told Kath, “Phil takes good care of me.”

She smiled into her mug as she took a sip.

“You boys have always taken good care of each other,” she said, “I couldn’t have asked for a better person for my son to spend his life with.”

Dan felt his cheeks blush at the comment. She said it so simply, that they would be spending the rest of their lives together. He supposed it was simple. He and Phil didn’t have a ring or a fancy legal document to prove it, but they were as committed to each other as two people could be. Dan sometimes thought about a ring though. And a wedding. And a family. He found himself thinking about it more and more these days. The time was never right, but he was starting to think it might be soon.

“Yeah, I got pretty lucky,” he smiled.

Kath placed a hand on his arm and gently squeezed as she stood up from the window seat. 

“I’m going to go start on dinner,” she said, “You know how Phil and Martyn are when they get hungry.”

Dan laughed and nodded. He did know how Phil was when he was hungry, and it wasn’t fun for anyone.

As she started to walk away, Dan turned around to look back at her.

“Kath,” he said, a little hesitant.

“Yes, dear?” she stopped, turning to face him.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

She looked at him with such fondness that he felt like his heart might break at the weight of it. She walked back over to him and stopped in front of him. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of his head and gave him a quick hug around his broad shoulders. 

“You’re very welcome,” she said.

He watched for a moment as she went back into the kitchen and started pulling out pots and pans. He looked back outside to the snow that was still gently falling, although it had let up a little bit. Maybe it was the warm drink, but he suddenly felt like maybe he could use a nap. 

He reluctantly got up from his seat by the fire and made his way into the kitchen. He sat his mug in the sink and nodded to Kath as he ambled back upstairs to the guest room. He slowly creaked open the door and smiled at the sight of Phil curled in on his side in the same place he’d been when Dan left him. Carefully, he pushed the door shut and lifted the covers on the bed. He tried not to wake Phil as he scooted closer to his warm body, but Phil shifted anyways and Dan saw his eyes start to flutter. 

“Shh, just me,” he whispered, “go back to sleep.”

Phil didn't need to be told twice. He moved back a bit so that he was pressed up against Dan, and Dan took the opportunity to wrap his arm around Phil’s waist, coming to rest his palm against his chest. He hitched his leg over Phil’s and buried his nose in the crook of Phil’s neck. He couldn’t help but press a kiss to the soft skin there. Phil sighed happily and reached his hand up to intertwine his fingers with Dan’s.

“I’m not going to be able to sleep if you keep kissing my neck,” he mumbled, somewhat grouchy.

Dan laughed into Phil’s hair and whispered, “Sorry, love. Go back to sleep.”

Phil pressed back against him even more tightly so that their bodies were touching from head to toe.

“M’kay, love you,” he said, already drifting off.

“Love you too,” Dan replied.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr at danflirting :)


End file.
